Gauging apparatus



Feb. 11, 1958 2,822,943

W. J. FEDORCHAK GAUGING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 26, 1955 40 39 INVENTOR wcLFEnoRcHAK ATTORNE ZI ZQLZ. 37

United States Patent Cfiice GAUGING APPARATUS William-J;.Fedorcliak, Granite City, ilk, assignor to Owens-Illinois Glass Company, a-corporation or Gino Application August 26, 1955, Serial No. 530,821

4 -Clairns. (Cl. 214-.-340) The present inventionrelates togauging apparatus of thestypepresently utilized in. the/detection of seams, ridgesiand such irregularities in glass-bottles, jars and the-.likearticles. Examplesof thetype of apparatus to which my invention particularly relates and in which I it:maysi'to advantage be incorporated, are disclosed and claimediin my Patents Nos.- 2,327,629 issued August 24, 1943ititledt Gauging- Machines and 2,355,719 issued August 15, 1944 titled Gauging and Seam-Detecting Apparatus.

Int-the:patentedmachine, the jar supporting pad which moves the jar verticallyinto and out of engagement with the;centering-and holding chuck at the open end of the An:. object of -my invention is to overcome the above objections and othersand to this end I provide mechanism. wherebythe jar, or such article, may with ease be properly positioned and securely held between the supporting pad. and centering chuck, prior to initiationof.any. rotative movement'of the pad.

A further object of'my invention is the provision of an"- apparatus'of' the above character in which the'step of final gripping ofthe article between the pad and chuck. automatically initiates rotation of the pad and,

article and through the latter also rotates the chuck at the2open end of the article.

Another object of my invention is the provision of braking means which functions automatically, incident to initiation of the article removing operation, to quickly bring the pad to a standstill;

It is also an object of. my. invention toprovide, in

apparatus of the above character, pad driving means includinga readily replaceable driving ring which is intended for engagement with the lower side of the article supporting pad incident to upward axial movement of said ring approximately at the time of completion of the article chucking operation.

Other objects will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary side elevational view with parts in section showing my invention incorporated in a machine such as that illustrated in either of the above identified patents.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view with parts in elevation of my invention.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional elevational view showing the construction of the pad, brake disk and connections therebetween.

The herein disclosed apparatus is intended for use in gauging round articles, such as glass jars, and includes a platform supporting gauging mechanism 11, said Such of a platform mountedupon posts 12* which extend downwardly to' a base- (not shown). A generally conical chuck, or centering cone 131 is rotatably mounted upon and depends from the platform 10 in proximity to the gauging mechanism 11, and; as will'be .apparent presently, functions to air, in theproper positioning and retention of the jar 14 upon the rotatable, supporting pad 15. This pad 15 is carriedby a, horizontal bracket 16 which is.

movable vertically for the purpose of bringing the container 14-into firm engagement; with the chuck 13 and for the additional-purposeof setting in motion the specific mechanism which rotates said pad' 15. The foregoing mechanism and details. of same are disclosed in my patents above identified:

As is explained1above,. the pad 15 rotates only after a jar or the like article has been placed thereupon and the bracket 16 elevated'sufliciently to bring the upper end of the jar'into engagement with the chuck 13 and through a continuation of such upward movement of the bracket a short distance beyond that which is necessary to chuck the container, effecting operative engagement between saidpad 15 and a continuously moving driver 17. Thus, the pad is at a standstill at the time the jar or'other container is placed'thereon and remains so until the container has been securely gripped between the pad 15 and the chuck 13.. Such functioning of they present invention isxpossible by reason of the particular mechanism which is carried by the bracket 16.

This bracketincludes a base portion 18 and upstanding marginal flange 19jand' a top cover 20 which is.-

separably attached to said flange 19; The bottom 18 is provided with a' vertical axial opening 21' which is in register with a vertical opening 22 in the aforementioned. An annular thickened portion provides a cover 29.- I coilar 23 definingthe opening 21 in they bottom 18. A ball-bearing 24' is mounted within the collar 23, being supported therein by an inwardly directed flange 25 at the lower'end'of, the collar23. A continuously rotating spur gear 26 is positioned withinthe bracket 16 and runs in mesh with a driving pinion 2.7; A hub 28, carried by the spur gear 26 is fitted intothe aforementioned ball bearjng'24. The lower end of this hub 28 may,

as shown, lie substantially flush with the lower end ofthe ball-bearing 24 while its upper end extends a short distance above the web portion. of the spur gear and projects into an annular driving collar 29, the latter being securedto-the spur gear by one or more countersunk screws 3,0101: similar fasteners. The spur gear 26 and driving collar 29 together comprise the, continuously operating driving means which at intervals is brought into frictional driving engagement with the lower side of the jar supporting pad 15.

The pad 15 (Fig. 3) is provided with a depending axial stub-shaft 31 which extends axially downward into the hub 28 of the spur gear 26, being spaced from said hub by a sleeve 32. The lower end of this stub-shaft 31 has a screw threaded connection to the diametrically reduced upper end portion 33 of a lifter rod 34, the latter being positioned in close proximity to the upper end of a rod 35. These rods, Fig. 2, are disposed in vertical and axial alignment and the lower rod 35 rises from a carrier 36 which is suitably mounted in a holder 37, such holder being separably connected to the aforementioned bottom 18 of the bracket 16 by means of attaching screws 38. This holder 37 includes a horizontal flange portion 39 which is spaced downwardly from the adjacent end of the collar 23 to accommodate a brake-disk 40. This brake-disk 40 includes an axial annular hub portion 41 which encircles the reduced upper portion of the lifter rod 34, Fig. 3, and together Patented Feb. 11, 1958,

with the carrier 36 confines a coil spring 42 which encircles the adjacent end portions of the lifter rods 34 and 35 and normally serves to yieldingly hold the sup porting pad 15 and brake-disk 40 in their uppermost positions, as best shown in Fig. 2. The spaced relationship between the lower side of the supporting pad 15 and the upper surface of the brake-disk 40 is slightly greater than the distance between the upper surface of the driving collar 29 and the lower end of the annular collar 23 of the bracket 16 with the result that normally the brake-disk 40 is yieldingly, but firmly frictionally held against the lower end of the collar 23, while the pad 15 is completely out of contact with the driving collar 29. Thus, normally the pad 15 is not rotating.

In operation, and assuming that the bracket 16 is in its lowermost position with the driving collar 29 rotating continuously, the operator will place a jar upon the supporting pad 15. The bracket 16 then is elevated so that the upper end of the jar is fitted over the conical chuck and incidentally centered by the latter, in the event the jar has not already been properly positioned in this respect. At this point, the jar is securely held and may be rotated rapidly about its axis without any likelihood of it being thrown out of the supporting pad 15 incident to rotation of the latter. The bracket 16 continues to move upwardly a very slight distance sutficiently to frictionally interengage the driving collar 29 and pad 15, with the result that the pad 15 very quickly begins to rotate and cause movement of the upper end of the jar relative to the gauging mechanism 11. Upon completion of the gauging operation, the bracket is lowered with the result that the driving connection between the collar 29 and pad 15 is completely broken and the brake-disk 40 performs its function prior to complete separation of the jar from the chuck 13. Thus, the pad and jar are brought to a complete standstill before the jar has been lowered sufiiciently to lose the benefit of the holding function of the chuck. As is obvious, the likelihood of damage to glassware and loss of same by reason of its being thrown by centrifugal force from the supporting pad is practically negligible.

Modifications may be resorted to within the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus of the character described, a chuck, a bracket spaced below said chuck, a continuously rotating ring-like driver carried by said bracket, an article supporting pad coaxial with the driver and chuck and normally spaced upwardly out of contact with the driver, a coil expansion spring normally holding the driver and pad spaced apart, said bracket, being movable vertically upward toward the chuck a distance slightly more than is necessary to bring the upper end of an article resting upon the pad into contact with said chuck, whereby to 4 compress the spring and efiect operative engagement between the pad and driver and thereby rotate the article.

2. The combination defined in claim 1 and brake means for stopping rotation of the pad comprising a disk positioned below the driver and coaxial with and rotating with the supporting pad and a stationary brake member on the bracket with which said disk is brought into frictional contact by separation ofrthe driver and supporting pad.

3. In combination, a chuck, a bracketspaced below the chuck, a driver carried by the bracket, a rotatable article supporting pad carried by said bracket and disposed between and coaxial with the driver and chuck, spring means normally holding the driver and pad spaced apart axially, said bracket being movable vertically upward toward the chuck a distance greater than is necessary to bring an article resting upon the pad into contact with the chuck, whereby to interengage the driver and pad in opposition to the spring means and thereby effect rotation of the pad and article supported thereon, and braking means effective to stop rotation of the pad and article incident to separation of the driver and pad comprising a disc rotatable as a unit with said pad and movable axially upward a distance equal to the extent of separation of the driver and pad into frictional holding engagement with a non-rotatable part of the bracket under the influence of said spring means.

4. In apparatus of the character described, a vertically movable bracket, a centering chuck positioned above and spaced from the bracket, said bracket having a vertical opening therethrough positioned coaxially with said chuck, an article supporting pad arranged above and coaxial with said opening in the bracket, a depending stub-shaft fixed to the pad and extending through said opening, a brake disk encircling a lower portion of said shaft, spring means normally yieldingly urging the brake disk into a position for frictional gripping contact with a non-rotating part of the bracket, and a continuously rotating driver encircling said shaft and mountedwithin the bracket, said driver including a collar positioned with an upper surface in close proximity to the lower side of the article supporting pad, the spaced relationship between the lower side of the article supporting pad and the upper surface of the braking disc being such that lowering of the supporting pad a predetermined distance in opposition to the spring means said lower surface of the pad into driving contact with the upper face of the driver and disengages the braking disk from said nonrotating part of the bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,404,233 Hurley July 16, 1946 

